Jeff Sandefer was once my teacher in school.Since graduating from Harvard Business School in 1986, Sandefer has had many successful business ventures, amassing a personal fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Here is the story of how this Texas oilman acquired 17 billion barrels of Australian shale oil reserves in a controversial deal that eventually generated roughly $150 million for his philanthropic organizations. Those nonprofit groups now play a major role in Sandefer’s efforts to change higher education in Texas.

Confidentiality agreements prohibit Sandefer from revealing details of the Australian play. He says he can’t even confirm the identity of his partners, the Ziff brothers of New York, even though their involvement is widely known.

Some in the Australian media have portrayed Sandefer’s 2003 investment in Southern Pacific Petroleum as a calculated ploy to force SPP into liquidation and hijack the company’s vast reserves and technology. Read more of this post

” When we inaugurated our management council room, which I believe is the most advanced council room with perhaps the finest technology in Asia, I had a discussion with my colleagues and we decided to name it after Jamsetji Tata. Jamsetji Tata, as you know, was an extraordinary businessman. He donated one-third of his wealth to start the Indian Institute of Science.

So, when we decided to name the management council room, I decided to invite Ratan to inaugurate that. He was a little bit surprised that we were naming our number one conference room after Jamsetji Tata. I told him, ‘Jamsetji is a beacon and an example on how businesses should be conducted.’ He came and inaugurated it, he had lunch with us, interacted with youngsters. And every one of my colleagues was so impressed with his grace, courtesy and humility.”